US seeking diplomacy with North Korea: White House

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House said on Friday that the US is seeking to restart diplomatic talks with North Korea after Pyongyang passed a new law that raises the specter of a nuclear confrontation.

"We continue to seek diplomacy, and are prepared to meet without preconditions," spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, noting the North has continued to not respond to the ongoing overtures.

"The United States remains focus on continuing to coordinate closely with our allies and partners to address the threats posed by DPRK. And to advance our shared objective of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That has not changed," she added, referring to North Korea using an acronym.

The comments come after North Korea passed a new law requiring its military to carry out a preemptive nuclear attack if a nation attempts to overthrow its leader, Kim Jong-un, according to multiple reports.

The law declares North Korea a nuclear weapons state, and says Pyongyang will never relinquish the weapons, which Kim said the country needs to counter the US.

"The utmost significance of legislating nuclear-weapons policy is to draw an irretrievable line so that there can be no bargaining over our nuclear weapons," Kim told the country's rubber-stamp legislature, according to state media.